Kids and the Sciences – Sometimes You Take Them to the Zoo

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Took the kids to the zoo today. Before you cock your head and say “hey, what does this have to do with aviation,” understand that it’s all about getting the kids fired up about science. Any kind of science. Hey, I prefer aerodynamics, but it remains that the scientific method and process applies universally. You need to expose the kids to as many different manifestations of it as you can.

So we headed to the Detroit Zoo. Cole and Ella, of course. And my sister and Scott and their son, Alex (born a year to the day after Cole).

The Detroit Zoo is a wonder. Maybe it was just the weather (60s and sunny), but the whole place seemed cool and clean and really fun to be around. I wish they had WiFi there. I could really see taking the laptop and a couple of cigars and finding a big 1930s-style stone park bench and camping out there all afternoon.

By far the coolest was the polar bear exhibit in the Arctic Circle of Life installation. I really love the underwater tunnel. Where else can you see polar bears suspended in the water directly above you?

Or let the kids seals and other fauna up close and personal?

It’s a really cool experience. Yeah, we’re going back to the airport soon enough. And to the Detroit Science Center and the Cranbrook Institute of Science. Get the kids out to meet the natural world! It’ll fire their imaginations and help to immunize them from a lot of the crap pseudo-science and outright lies to which the average American is so susceptible. Accept no substitute for up-close and personal experiences folks!

And besides. They have to fly to a lot of the places where these critters live, right?

Stephen Force is the superhero alter ego of mild-mannered tech and aviation lawyer, commercial pilot (glider, with private privileges in ASEL, ASES, AMEL, IA, and DC-3 (SIC) type-rated), and Civil Air Patrol lieutenant colonel Steve Tupper. Steve writes, records, and brings you the inside story about everything that really matters in aviation. He's flown with the USAF Thunderbirds, he's and airshow performer and air boss, and he's one of only five pilots ever to earn a FAST card in the glider category. Follow Steve's ongoing quest to do all that is cool in aviation at www.airspeedonline.com or on Twitter as @StephenForce.